ive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. good evening from nbc's democracy plaza in the heart of the greatest city in the world. there's something in the air. i think it's the smell of fear and maybe the scent of victory. ♪ >> well, three more days, exactly right. three more days. >> i'm not going to -- that's it. >> no obama. >> if it's obama, america wins. if it's romney, comedy wins. >> senator grassley, have you hit a big deer lately? the deer didn't make it, but was it delicious? >> i love you back, and we've got more work to do. >> one more year!

one more year! >> never imagine such a thing as funny. president obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans. never imagine such a thing as funny. i'm not particular precisely of what i said but i stand by whatever i said, whatever it was. >> we are closing in on the final 48 hours of this campaign. the president is speaking live in dubuque, iowa, his third of four stops today. and with him and his challenger in a frenzied sprint to win voters in those crucial battleground states. for the president that means shoring up support in the midwest states that backed him with great enthusiasm in 2008. with events in iowa, ohio, and

wisconsin already today. and it was in the key battleground ohio that the president lambasted his challenger's latest effort to seize the medal of change. >> governor romney, he is a very talented salesman. so in this campaign, he has tried as hard as he can to repackage the same policies that didn't work and offer them up as change. but, you know, here's the problem, ohio, we know what change looks like. and what he's offering about ain't it. >> no, indeed, it ain't. vice president joe biden hit it a bit closer to the mark when he joked about romney's favorite time of year out in colorado. >> folks, i want to remind you, this is the end of daylight savings time tonight. it's mitt romney's favorite time of the year because he gets to turn the clock back. >> yes, for mitt romney it's the

closing hours of his six- or seven- or eight-year bid for the white house. it is a palpable feeling on the romney campaign plane that is end the near. indeed, that was evident today in colorado springs with mr. and mrs. romney showing evident wear and tear, even getting a bit misty-eyed from the long flight. >> it has been quite a journey. it's coming to a close. we have three more days. >> it's no wonder emotions are running so high, particularly with new polls out today showing romney down six in critical ohio. down two in his absolute must win florida. six, seven, eight years of campaigning and it's come down to this. romney still combing through the president's speeches trying to find anything that he might tether his message to, this time a line best served cold.

>> yesterday the president said something you may have already heard, that i found troubling. spoke to an audience and said voting is the best revenge. he's asking us -- he is asking his supporters to vote for revenge. i'm asking you to vote for love of country. >> oh, for the love of christmas, three days to go. let's get right to our panel. with me here at democracy plaza is professor james peterson of lehigh university, nbc correspondent and eli gilmore of the excel ie license. ari, the fact that romney is still desperately trying to find a zinger from the president's speech indicates there's a problem, isn't there? he's just not winning. >> it is a bad sign if you're playing these kind of word games this close to the end. you want to be making a big, bold closing argument. that's not what you're seeing from the romney campaign.

you're seeing a lot of spinning. you're seeing talk about pennsylvania. you're seeing talk about these quotes and obviously what the president meant was, if you have a feeling of revenge, if you're feeling excited, make sure to go out and do your civic duty, that's what counts. i mean, it's such a reach and so silly to try to take that and turn it into something else. but that's where they're at right now. >> so it's an act of desperation? >> i think so. i think the problem for mitt romney here is, look at ohio, right? talk about a dispute over jobs and facts and he is losing. if you go on twitter, i mean, i was doing #romneyohioclips as the hash tag and the obama campaign and others were circulated today. not three, not five, but literally about 15 articles saying to mitt romney, you've got the economic plan wrong with your approach to jobs and the auto industry. and number two, equally important in a campaign, you're lying. stop lying to the people of ohio. >> dr. peterson, "the washington post," to ari's point, had an article entitled, mitt romney's campaign insults voters. through all the flip-flops there has been one consistency in the

campaign of republican president nominee mitt romney, a contempt for the electorate. mr. romney seems to be betting that voters have no memories, poor arithmetic skills and general inability to look behind the curtain. we hope the results tuesday prove him wrong. >> yeah, again, if we put that revenge comment in its proper context, part of what that revenge is about is romney's violation of the public trust. when we look at these different things that have gone on in the campaign, it's very, very difficult to see mitt romney as an authentic campaigner or authentic politician. that's where you get the revenge piece. that's where the oped seems to be right on point. again, we look at a number of different issues. look at the adz playing in ohio right now. you look at that chrysler ad, you look at this desperate republican ad trying to convince black folk that the republican party are on their side. they speak down to voters and let voters understand the ways

in which politics gets really, really messy at this stage of the game. >> it's not just the campaign, it's the character of the man. that's what's being exposed to ari's point. >> yes. >> by these ads. is that not true? if you willfully lie repeatedly to the electorate, what does that say about you as an individual? >> it doesn't speak very highly of you. again, i'm all about authenticity and truth in politics. i know that seems really, really crazy in the 21st century. i think the american electorate is with me on this. at the end of the day mitt romney has played with the truth fast and furious, as we said, many times on your show. this is the result, the six-point deficit in ohio. >> despite that misleading g-pad, he hasn't made any inroads in ohio, as we've heard. we've heard about this absurd ad

in spanish to latino voters where there's the president linked to fidel, hugo chavez. could it be, do you think, that mitt romney made the mistake that think that the electorate is dumb, that basically we're stupid and we wouldn't see through the stupidity of an ad like that? >> i have to agree with ari, at this point of the game we need to focus on bigger issues and just trying to, you know, grab one very emotional and personal matter in the case of floridians and cuban-americans and try to draw a parallelism of communism with these very strong figures in an ad just goes back to picking one item that it's not the most critical at this point of the race and those few that maybe were undecided want to hear about the economy, want to hear about jobs, want to hear about -- >> immigration. >> -- hispanic business, or immigration. so in the case of this particular ad, i just -- it's unfortunate the funding went there when there were so many other opportunities to have a bigger impact and not stereotype on things like the communist message with the floridians or hispanic. >> ari, i want to get to you because you've written a very

interesting article. is obama good for black people? and in your piece you say this, whatever else happens, obama's first term delivered an ambitious domestic agenda, with tax, spending, health care, and several rights policies that benefited black americans more than recent administrations in either party. just usually without making a sound. >> uh-huh. >> now, the narrative that i've been hearing for some time is that this president has been silent on the issues of race, and actually has not been helpful to african-americans. you say the exact opposite. >> it is a narrative that's out there and there are some very respected voices in african-american intellectual circles who have raised that which part of what i was doing is making that argument and looking at the policy. we were speaking about this before just coming on air. if you look, for example, at the people in the lowest fifth of income in this country, barack obama's tax policies and stimulative policies have cut their taxes more than any other administration in 30 years. and if you then look at that in the context of african-american communities for a range of reasons are more --

>> the lower fifth. >> -- moreover represented in that lower fifth than any other bracket is a boon. then on affirmative action this president sent his lawyers to the supreme court to argue in favor of it. he doesn't give big speeches on it and we can talk about what that means. my point was in taking this argument seriously let's look at the substance and the policies -- >> content of what he's done. >> exactly. he hasn't put an emphasis on it as race and he talks about it and contrast again to mitt romney who in reporting on this i looked into mitt romney's record. he was for and against affirmative action at various points in massachusetts. he actually rolled back to executive order affirmative action policies but reversed that. now despite inquiries from the "wall street journal," politico and other papers, throughout this entire campaign he would never state a position on affirmative action. >> professor peterson, the

president himself when interviewed earlier this year when asked what was his single most mistake he said he had failed to -- in terms of his messaging. is this one area that ari's article points to where in a sense he's been somewhat slow in coming forward in terms of what he's done in relation directly to black voters? >> i think that this is a very complicated issue within the black community. because there is this sense -- even within the black community that there's a supposed for for the president and there really isn't. when you talk to folks, there's a wide range of opinions. there are a lot of black people to the left of this president. and so that's where he's getting that criticism from. you still get the support in that sort of context but we have to understand that it's a very, very complex issue. >> i have to say one more thing, which is very interesting. this is a very common mistake. i heard a lot of talk about the black vote and barack obama. there is no special historical relationship when you look at the data there. the relationship is between the quote, unquote, black vote and the democratic party. the numbers i'll give you are

brief. barack obama improved his overall vote total for the democrats from '04 to '08 by five points, more than kerry. for all voters. among african-american voters, it was seven points. two-point difference. so whatever we say about the african-american community, they may be committed for all series to democrats but there isn't a big voting pattern in there about this president. >> i wish more people would read your piece and get it squared. again, i don't think we should file as whole issue around race under his inability to communicate his policies. it's really up to us to try to move beyond some of the discussions we've been having around this presidency because he is black. if we do that we might see -- >> i think to some extent he's helped us with that. lili gil valetta, ari melber, professor james peterson, stay where you are. next, chris christie and mitt romney, the bromance that was, is sadly no more. do stay with us. [ male announcer ] when was the last time something made your jaw drop?

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you can now add rupert murdoch to the list of conservatives who are preparing to blame the governor of new jersey if the president wins re-election. he tweets, thanks, bloomberg, right decision. now christie, while thanking o, must redeclare for romney or take blame for the next four dire years. in case you can't remember this insomnia that chris christie spoke that so disgusted conservatives, here's a reminder. >> i cannot thank the president enough for his personal concern and compassion for our state and for the people of our state. >> i just want to thank him for his extraordinary leadership and partnership. >> joining me to discuss that

disgusting press conference is dr. james peterson, ari melber, and lili gil valetta. dr. peterson, can you explain to me the problem here. if it was a republican president and democratic governor, they presumably would have acted in exactly the same way in the face of a storm. what's the problem? >> i don't know. i mean, should we pat them on the back for doing their jobs? i mean, that's essentially what the governor and the president are doing here. >> have you got rupert murdoch condemning him? >> i'm not sure we should be paying any attention to rupert murdoch at all. let me say this, they're doing a great job in a disastrous moment and that's why they get the platform they have. people forget that this great optics for governor christie who is a blue state. this is a time of dire need, people still don't have power right now. we should not be playing politics here. murdoch's comments are completely out of place. >> why do conservatives, ari,

insists that his kind words may swing the election. why are they doing that? >> i think they have a couple of problems. number one is they are already looking for things to blame for a romney loss. >> that's right. >> that's happening, first of all. >> the post-mortem is occurring even though the body is not dead? >> right. i mean, you know, there's a question about how much people are doing early voting nowadays. tuesday is almost like the time for late vote. if you have your stuff together you should have voted already. that's how it is in politics. i have worked on campaigns that have lost and it does happen. long before election day they see what they can do to maintain their legacy and angle that they weren't responsible for the loss. the other piece with rupert murdoch is -- by the way, i'm glad he's on the first initial basis with the president. it's not just barack, it's just "o." it's fascinating because what we get through twitter is a bee

line to powerful people's minds. and rupert murdoch may give away more of the game than he realizes. this is how he views it. i want to echo what you said. this is not a political time. there may be political ramifications but first, we still have people who need help. rupert murdoch is sitting there saying that governor christie -- >> he lives on the upper east side of manhattan. he's not bothered about hurricane sandy. >> exactly. mayor bloomberg has done some good things here but also showed an incredible lack of understanding in trying to continue the marathon. you have some people here who have power, media power, financial power, political power, and they're looking at this and we're seeing how they view these developments. that's unfortunate what they think. >> i want to add something to that, because what i like about this i guess in the middle of the nonsense of political partisanship is that it shows we still have it in us as americans when you see a democrat and a republican coming together from different sides of the aisle to solve an issue. we've had many issues. regardless of who is president or not, there are issues in the economy, in the debt, and immigration, with the war, why couldn't we celebrate and see this as a sign of hope instead

of trying to over dramatize it. it's really unfortunate, whether it is through twitter of powerful people or even us in the media, to not look at this and see the positive in it and try to make it into a big on the other side. >> they need chris christie. they need his personality. they need the kind of energy he brings to the party. >> some suggestion he might have been needed as a vice presidential candidate. that really goes, martin, to the question you raised at the top of the broadcast. what is mitt romney's closing argument. they spent an enormous amount of time to impugn christie and whether or not he was a running mate. that's what they're doing the weekend before the final election. that shows real problems. >> shows they're making some concessions here right in the run-up to the end. on the other side, they're confident about their numbers. you were on the same call earlier. they are confident about their numbers in the swing states. >> to your point, lili, is it not the case that republicans are probably angry because their

whole strategy from the moment this president was inaugurated was to oppose, obstruct, ambush, absolutely everything he did and in the last week of the campaign, here's a republican who gets on board and cooperates with the president. >> see, once again, i will look at that as an example of showing that a republican mindset can collaborate with the democratic side and work on the other side of the aisle. but again, it's not being used strategically or maybe generally as a way to portray and show that there is a new spirit and there is a true american spirit when we work together, and that's what's happening now in the time of crisis. it's a strength, it's not a weakness, what we're seeing. >> here, here. dr. james peterson, ari melber, lili gil valetta, thank you. coming up, new video evidence shows why mitt romney is so afraid to answer a reporter's questions. do stay with us.

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i love logistics. the president has just finished speaking in iowa. we are following the presidential candidates as they chris cross the coup tri in the final weekend of campaigning. we want to take you to virginia where the president is appearing with former president bill clinton. let's listen. >> it was great to hear the dave matthews band again. [ cheers and applause ] >> but, as you can see, i have given my voice in the service of my president. [ cheers and applause ]

>> but i had the honor of introducing the president tonight and started setting up his speech. and i want to tell you that four years ago when he ran, both h l hillary and i worked very hard. we did, together, over a hundred appearances. but i am much more enthusiastic about barack obama's election tonight than i was even four years ago. there are five simple reasons. first of all, in a time torn by etilogical warfare, he knows any

of us together works a lot better than if you're on your own. he knows that an economy that builds a middle class and gives poor people an honorable way to work their way into it is a lot better than four more years have trickled down. we've been there, we've done that. he knows that a budget based on arithmetic is a lot better than one based on illusion. and he knows that practical cooperation is better than all of this constant etiological conflict. we saw it the way the president got off the campaign trail and responded to sandy. and all over america, people were thrilled to see him working

with the republican governor of new jersey. and the mayor of new york city who is an independent and who endorsed president obama. and the democratic governors of new york and connecticut. there is no republican or democratic way to rebuild after a flood, to save lives, to start again, to turn the electricity on, to clean the debris. but what i want to tell you is cooperation works better when there is no disaster. and if you don't have cooperation, you have the makings of a disaster. barack obama is a proven coop ray tor. he even offered the republicans, unilaterally, in an attempt to get a budget deal, a trillion dollars in spending cuts. they said thank you very much, no deal.

we will not see one penny raised on the wealthiest americans, even if it will get rid of $4 trillion in debt. but he kept going and the door is still open and when you reelect him, the door will be open and they will walk through that door. [ cheers and applause ] >> the second reason that i am for president obama is that he has done a good job with a bad hand. keep in mind that all through 2007 and 2008, then senator obama, crossed america with senator clinton and senator biden and other good democrats all talking about how bad the economy already was. median family income after inflation was lower than it was the day after i left office. poverty was up.

all of these things mr. romney talks about now were true before the crash. because of the policies he now advocates. and then came the crash just six weeks before the election. he took office and the economy was losing 800,000 jobs a month. now, the economy lost jobs for about 15 months. but when it started again, and president obama's program starting kicking in, in just 33 months, we had 5.5 million jobs, as of yesterday. when someone criticizes an office holder, you have a right to ask them, "compared to what"?

so let's look at our most recent comparison. if you don't count the losses in the crash against president bush and you just look at the seven years after the brief slow down we had when the dot com stocks crashed a little bit and the on set of the crash in september, 2008, just that seven-year period, there were 2.6 million private sector jobs. in 33 months, less than half that time, twice as many jobs, 5.5 million. barack obama has done a good job with a bad hand. the third reason i'm for him is he has fulfilled a solid responsibility to be a good commander in chief. he has advanced the nation's security by ending the war in

iraq, by bringing our troops home from afghanistan, by fighting terror, modernizing the military and aggressively pursuing diplomacy to make a world with more friends and fewer adversaries. and he's got a heck of a secretary of state. [ cheers and applause ] >> but, far more important, most important of all to me, he has shown a consistent, unbreakable commitment to take care of the men and women in uniform when they come home. for all of these reasons, he was endorsed by a self-described,

moderate republican. and one of the most distinguished military leaders since world war ii, general colin powell who also pointed out that his opponent's main advisors are the same neocons that took us into war in iraq on bad intelligence. barack obama is your choice for commander-in-chief. the fourth reason i'm for him can best be described in a phrase once used by the second president bush. believe it or not, he said something i really agree with. [ laughter ] >> and he often got made fun of, but it's true. he said the president is the decider-in-chief.

okay? so let's look how these deciders stack up. barack obama decided to sign the lily ledveder fair pay out. and that is not just a woman's issue. anybody who like me was a kid in a family where both the mother and the father worked know that every father with any sense wants his wife to be paid an equal amount for equal work so they can raise the kids. now this law has been on the books for a couple of years now. and when mitt romney who wants to be the decider-in-chief was asked -- wait a minute. he was asked, well, governor, would you have signed the bill?

i mean, folks, you're going to have a lot harder decisions than this [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] i mean, there's a law, it's been there. there's an answer to this question. you can answer yes or you can answer no. but when you are the decider-in-chief, you don't need to just shuffle along. you can't do that. barack obama wants to keep funding planned parenthood and mitt romney doesn't. barack obama decided that america could not afford to let the automobile industry die and he saved it.

and mitt romney opposed what he did. and, now, he's tied himself in so many notes over this automobile deal, he could be hired as the chief contortionist for the cirque de soleil. i know something about this. i grew up in this business and it wasn't just general motors and chrysler. there's a reason that all the german and japanese companies that make cars in america who didn't get a penny out of this deal were for the automobile restructuring. they knew if general motors quit buying parts, the parts manufacturers would go down and they were toast. it's another example of we're all in this together, it works better than you're on your own. barack obama made the right

decision and his opponent was wrong. [ cheers and applause ] >> and, in an unbelievable attempt to distract the voters of ohio where one in eight jobs depends on the car business, he accused the president of allowing jeep to move jobs to china. i have to tell you. i took that personally because the jeep plan to lead ohio was open when ifgs president. i remember how hard it was to get it there and the work we did in the white house to get it there. i know that they are expanding that plant, hiring more people, taking on new production lengths. and, first, jeep said it wasn't so. then chrysler said governor

romney was wrong. you know, when i was a kid and i got my hand caught in the cookie jar, well, my face started to turn red and i took my hand out of the cookie jar. not governor romney. he's just digging for more cookies. [ laughter ] when general motors and chrysler and jeep all said this is bull, what did he do he then said because fiat owns the controlling interest in chrysler, that the president had moved with the italians to move jobs to china. you know, first he took fsd notes on the immigration deal. and then a lot of other people, in ways i won't take your time

up with, now he's going after the italians. if the irish are next, i'm toast. far worse, after every single reputable authority said this is a false charge, he put it on television and then doubled down and put more money behind the ad. because he believes that middle class people are so ascared about their jobs and so uninformed that they will buy any line of bull they see on television. i think they and you are smarter and barack obama will be elected president. finally, and most important, i am for president obama because his plans for the future are better. that's what really matters.

and he's going to talk about this, but i'll just give you a brief outline. he wants to begin to invest even more of the new jobs in the 21st century and infrastructure and information technology and clean energy in manufacturering and modern agriculture and he wants to empower people to do those jobs. he wants to help middle-aged, non-college educated long time workers to get back in the mix by going back to the community colleges and getting skills that will get them good jobs. and he has literally revolutionized the student loan law. from now on, beginning next year, listen to this, every person in america who has a college loan beginning next year will, first of all, get it at a lower cost and will have the absolute right to pay that loan

back as a low, fixed percent of their income for 20 years. and since in this last decade we have fallen to 15th or so in the percentage of our young people with four-year college degrees, this is great. it means nobody ever has to drop out of college again. ever because of the cost. one of the reasons middle class people didn't get a pay raise in the last decade is that health care costs went up so much. the health care law has not only allowed three million young people to be on their parents' insurance policy for the first time, has not only made it possible beginning next year, if he wins, for more than 30 million americans, many with

preexisting conditions to be insured, not only has made it legal for women to be charged the same as men for the same health care, but the last two years, we've had the lowest inflation in health care costs in 50 years. if this keeps going, if this keeps going, the barack obama is doing it the right way. bring health care costs down, bring health care costs and quality education up. finally, he's got a budget based on arithmetic. cuts $4 trillion, $2 trillion in tax cuts, spending cuts for every one dollar in revenue increases.

and he only asks those of us in high income groups to pay a little more to balance the budget, get rid of the debt and manage our future. now, how does that compare with governor romney's plan? do you remember they told us at their convention that the debt was the biggest problem in the world? do you remember that? they forgot to tell us that we never had permanent deaths in peacetime until they convinced everybody that government would mess up a two-car parade and that there was no such thing as a bad tax cut about 30 years ago. then they tripled and quadrupled the debt before i took office in 12 years. and then i gave you four years of declining deficits and four years of surpluses. and then they got back in with the same old theory that governor romney was advancing

and they doubled the debt again. so this should explain something to you. obama's plan brings the debt down and it's based on arithmetic. what is romney's plan? another big tax cut for upper income people. give the highest of us, highest income people 60% of the tax cut. and then cut the investment in all of these 21st century jobs, repeal the student loan law, making the loans more expensive and harder to repay and keeping us down there in the rankings of college graduates. and don't produce a budget. you say, well, governor, you want to spend $2.5 trillion more than the president wants to spend. you want to cut taxes $5

trillion more than he wants to cut taxes. and you've only identified about a trillion dollars worth of tax deductions on companies that you want to repeal to lower the corporate income tax. that's president obama's idea. but that leaves $6.5 trillion. even if you fill it, you want to produce the long-term dealt. how are you doing to do that? see me about that after the election. >> he has no budget. i want to vote for the president who has a budget, who has a plan that will produce broad-based posterity. i want to vote for a president who's been a good commander in chief and a good decider in chief. and i want to vote for a president who's been through the fire of these last four years and brought america out on the other side ready to take off.

and, lastly, just remember this. you know, gov fernor romney has promised us 12 million jobs. you all remember that? he says by just electing me, people will be so elated that you're going to get 12 million jobs. now, i'm sure it was just an oversight. or, as the president has told us, america is in the group for this huge public health epidemic. there's this virus all over america backed by hundreds of millions of dollars spreading a condition known as k"rom nerkne and it's so prevalent that even his opponent could have picked up a little bit of it.

and he forgot to tell you that just days before he promised those 12 million jobs, an independent business forecaster says we're going to get 12 million jobs in the next four years if we just don't mess up what president obama has already done. so it is my great honor to introduce to you, the next president, the decider-in-chief, the commander-in-chief, the man who brought us back and will take us forward, barack obama. [ cheers and applause ] >> former president bill clinton has lost his voice being such an amazing campaign partner for barack obama, president barack obama with just about two days to go until the election. his voice sounds positively low,

but he greets the president as he is walking out and making his way to the podium. >> hello, virginia. are you fired up? are you ready to go? you've got to be fired up after bill clinton. he has been traveling all across the country for this campaign. he has been laying out the

stakes so well that our team basically calls him the secretary of explaining stuff. the only clinton working harder than him is our secretary of state, hillary clinton. and i am so grateful to both of them. the only problem is i was in the back, i was enjoying listening to president clinton so much, i had to run up to get my cue. i was sitting there just soaking it all in. he was a great president. he's been a great friend. so i want everybody to give president bill clinton a big round of applause. speaking of outstanding public service, your next senator, your

former governor, tim kaine is in the house. your outstanding congressman, jerry conneley is here. and i want everybody to please thank dave matthews for the outstanding performance. now -- i love you back. and i am glad to see all of you. for the past several days, obviously, all of this has been focused on the devastation that's been taking place all along the east coast. now, virginia got hit but was spared some of the worst brunt of the storm. but i've been to new jersey. we've been on the phone every day with folks from connecticut and new york and, you know, as a

nation, we mourn those who have been lost. our hearts and prayers go out to the families who are going through just some unbearable pain. so in folks have been impacted. it's going to be a long, hard road to recovery. but every time i've spoken to folks in the region, what i've told them is that america will be with them every step of the way. america will be there on this hard road ahead. we will help them rebuild together, which is what we do as americans. which is why during the course of tragedy, we've also been inspired over these last few days by hero, firefighters and national guardsmen and women and

ems folks and police officers running into buildings, wading through water, neighbors -- helping neighbors cope with tragedy, leaders of different political parties working together to fix what's broken. not worrying about who's getting credit. not worrying about the politics of it. a spirit that says no matter how bad a storm is, we bounce back. no matter how tough times are, we're all in this together. we rise or fall as one nation and as one people. and that spirit has guided this country along its improbable journey for more than two centuries. it's what's carried us through the trials and tribulations the last four years. remember, in 2008, we were in the middle of two wars in the

worst economic crisis since the depression. today, our businesses created 5.5 million jobs. home values are on the rise. housing con instruction is coming back. we're less-dependent on foreign oil than any time in the last 20 years because of the service and sacrifice of our brave men and women in uniform. the war in iraq is over. the war in afghanistan is coming to a close. al-qaida has been decimated, we are safer than we were four years ago. so we've made real progress, virginia. we've made real progress. but, virginia, we're here tonight not only to listen to dave matthews. not only to hear the master, bill clinton, break things down for us. but we're also here because we've got more work to do.

as long as there's a single american who wants a job and can't find one, our work is not yet done. as long as there are families working harder but still falling behind, our work is not yet done. as long as there's a child anywhere in virginia, anywhere in this country who is still languishing in poverty and barred from opportunity, our work is not yet done. we've got more work to do. our fight goes on, virginia, because we know this nation can't succeed without a growing, thriving middle class. our fight goes on because america has always done best. when everybody has a fair shot and everybody's doing their fair share and everybody is playing by the same rules. that's what we believe. that's why you elected bill clinton in 't 2. that's why you elected me in

'08. that's why i'm running for a second term as president of the united states. [ cheers and applause ] now, virginia, in three days, you've got a choice to make. even if you've made the choice, you've got to talk to some folks who have. and you've got to tell them, it's not just a choice between two candidates or two parties, it's a choice between two different visions of america. it's a choice between topdown economics that crashed our economy or bottom up, middle-out economics that create a strong and growing middle class.

you know, as americans, we honor the survivors and the dreamers, the entrepreneurs, the small business makers, the risk takers who are the driving force between our free enterprise system. and we believe the free enterprise system is the greatest growth and prosperity engine the world has ever known. but we also known in this country, the market works best, the free enterprise system works best, more businesses are created, more jobs are created when everybody has a chance to succeed. when everybody has the chance to get a good education and learn new skills. when we support research in the medical breakthroughs or new technologies because we know that we can't do that on our own. we've got to pool our resources to discover the future. we know that america is stronger when everybody can count on affordable health care insurance.

when everybody can count on social security to give them a dignified retirement. we know the market works better when the rules of the road protect kids from toxic dumping, to be protected against unscrupulous credit card companies or mortgage lenders. we believe that there's a role for rules or regulations that are smart and we also believe that we should leave to the people -- for example, we don't think politicians in washington are very smart about controlling health care choices that women are perfectly capable of making themselves. now, for 8 years, we had a president who shared these believes. you just heard. president clinton's economic

plan asked the wealthiest americans to pay a little bit more so we can invest in the skills of our people. and the interesting thing, at the time, the republicans in congress and a certain senate candidate by the name of mitt romney -- don't boo. you've got to vote. don't boo. but the senate candidate named mitt romney said that bill clinton's program would hurt the economy and kill jobs. sound familiar? it turns out his math was just as bad back then as it is today. by the end of president clinton's second term, america created 23 million new jobs, incomes were up, poverty was down, our deficit became the biggest surplus in history. so, virginia, we know our ideas work.

what about their ideas? after bill clinton left office, for eight years, we tried giving big tax cuts to the wealthiest americans. we tried to strip away regulation sos that wall street and insurance companies were free to do whatever they please. what do we get? falling incomes, record deficits and an economic crisis that we've been cleaning up afterwards ever since. so we tried one way, it worked. we tried another way, it didn't work. which presents a dilemma for governor romney. he wants to go back to the same policies that didn't work. governor romney is a very talented salesman. in this campaign, he has tried as hard as he can to rep